


that's it!

by neko_lcairw



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Fluff, Gen, one of my favorites!, post-Chapter 70
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-15 20:03:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18080015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neko_lcairw/pseuds/neko_lcairw
Summary: Nyanko-sensei is on the hunt.





	that's it!

**Author's Note:**

> oh my god this was slightly inspired by neko atsume but am i sorry  
>   
>   
> (no)

Nyanko-sensei had actually wanted to go back out that night in search of what Natsume had flung out the window, but he'd managed to firmly haul his inebriated cat back from the sill and that had been that. 

Until the next day, that is. 

  
 

"Is this it, Natsume?" Sensei's pawing at a glass marble he'd found on the side of the road. Natsume doesn't even bother answering him. It's embarrassing enough as it is. Nyanko-sensei leaps onto his shoulder, uttering a muffled, "Catch!" from around the marble in his mouth. Natsume manages to, miracle of miracles. He holds it up to the light. There's a twist of red suspended at its center, like folds of cloth.

"Pretty."

"But not it." 

"This would've probably shattered if I'd thrown it out the window, so no."

Nyanko-sensei snorts. "As expected of human things."

Natsume rolls his eyes and sets the marble down on the low wall they're passing. 

"Hey!" 

"What?" Natsume asks, bewildered. Sensei springs down from his perch and snatches up the marble again. He gives Natsume the stink eye before scampering back the way they came. 

Natsume is left perplexed. 

  
 

"What about this?" Sensei's brought him a worn puzzle piece. It lands with a satisfying  _clack_ as it's dropped onto his desk. An odd but welcome distraction from his algebra homework. 

"No, Sensei." He lets out an amused huff. "Why did you think it would be this?" Nyanko-sensei sniffs indignantly. 

"You humans place value on the silliest stuff, how am I supposed to know?"

"Is the great and powerful Madara admitting that he doesn't know something?" Sensei narrows his eyes, ear flickering irritably. He tips Natsume's pencil cup over before he hops off the desk and out the window. Natsume laughs for real this time. 

The wooden puzzle piece is a chip of azure sky. A fine line of black indicates the wings of a soaring bird. 

 _I bet the rest of the picture is nice,_ Natsume thinks, placing it next to the marble on the windowsill. 

  
 

Sensei doesn't stop there. Natsume's never seen his cat so determined. 

A little silver bell that doesn't ring anymore. A length of lavender satin ribbon. A horse-hair paintbrush. A delicate earring without its backing. A small, sturdy two-minute hourglass filled with pink sand. A lightly-scuffed lacquered comb decorated with a floral design. An obsidian-colored twenty-sided die. A pair of cat-sized mittens (socks?) that Touko delightedly washes and presses. _("They'll be great for the winter!" she beams.)_

They've all been vetted by Natsume. And every time he responds in the negative but still, they're sticking around. A little museum curated by a cat's sensibilities, or rather by an all-powerful yokai's sensibilities. 

It's rather charming. 

  
 

One day, he comes home to a yokai drinking party in full swing up in his room and the Nyanko-shaped rock tucked between Sensei's paws next to his favorite sake cup. Natsume slides his door shut with a little more force than necessary when he catches sight of the smug look on Nyanko-sensei's face. He goes downstairs to spend a quiet evening with Touko and Shigeru.

When all is calm, he ventures upstairs. Sensei is curled up on his favorite pillow, the rock still nestled between his paws.

Natsume smiles despite himself. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Immeasurably fluffy and inconsequential! c:


End file.
